With apologies to Cole Porter, L.A.’s public station KUSC continues to lead in the nation’s public radio ratings.
Brenda Barnes is the President of KUSC. You can catch an interview with her about the ongoing good news, printed yesterday in the online journal LAdowntownnews.com.
According to the most recent Arbitron ratings, Classical KUSC 91.5, which broadcasts from the 20th floor of the Manulife Plaza building at 515 S. Figueroa St., reaches more listeners than any other public radio outlet in the country. It edges out not just the local competition, but also NPR affiliates WNYC in New York and KQED in San Francisco.
And it’s not just that LA is huge. I’ve said this before but it bears repeating — KUSC pays an inordinate amount of attention to its community, and the community shows its appreciation.
The approach has had an impact in areas arguably more important than the ratings: KUSC just completed one of its most successful pledge drives, with 10,491 member donations raising $1.1 million. It was the first time the station topped 10,000 pledges, Barnes said.
There’s more, but you can read it for yourself. Congrats again to all of you at KUSC. You’re an inspiration to the rest of us.
Subscribe Via Email
Enter your email address to subscribe to Scanning the Dial and receive notifications of new posts by email.
Thank you for subscribing.
Something went wrong.
I looked at the attached article. I had seen a previous article in a USC publication. What I saw there, and not here, is that KUSC now measures membership in 38 states and 11 countries.
I consider Brenda Barnes a very good long distance friend. I was a member of KUSC from New Jersey for a fair amount of time. Brenda was always extremely cordial to me. She deserves all the success for herself and the station.
What this proves, or at least supports, is the value and importance of the internet as a means of distribution for Classical music.
This has been my thesis and my single message for quite some time.